Thread winding machine



Oct. 31, 1967 E. MARCINIAK THREAD WINDING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJan. 15, 1965 AQLZ ATTORNEY-5' Oct. 31, 1967 E. MARCINIAK THREAD WINDINGMACHINE Filed Jan. 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTUR EJ J "mpg/um!ATTORNEYfi Z Oct. 31, 1967 E. MARCINIAK THREAD WINDING MACHINE 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 15, 1965 N mm mm R E/ 3 w M m EJMW'NELY 12ATTORNEK Oct. 31, 1967 Filed Jan. 15, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 UnitedStates Patent C) 7 Claims. (61. 242-18) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In amachine for winding textile threads on a bobbin wherein a thread guideis given a reciprocating movement along the thread receiving bobbinthrough a rotating element coupled with the bobbin, there are providedtwo distinct mechanisms for driving the bobbin, these mechanisms beingbrought into play alternatively, one for driving the bobbin at constantangular speed, and the other for driving the bobbin at constantperipheral speed, through a friction drive roller adapted, to be appliedagainst the periphery of the body formed by the bobbin and the threadwound thereon.

This invention relates to the handling of textile threads and moreparticularly to a machine for automatically winding such threads ontobobbins or spools.

Still more particularly, this invention concerns winding machines of thetype comprising a thread guide drivenby a rotating element, such as acam, in such a way as to undergo an alternating movement along thelength of the thread-receiving bobbin, the spindles upon which saidbobbin and said cam are respectively mounted being rotatably coupled insuch a way that the rotation of one of them assures the rotation of theother.

It should be understood that, in accordance with standard usage in thetextile industry, the word bobbin used hereafter may refer to thesupport element taken alone or to the combination of this support withthe mass of thread wound thereon.

The machine of the present invention is characterised in that itcomprises two distinct bobbin driving mechanisms permitting the bobbinto be selectively driven either at a constant radial velocity, by meansof one of the above mentioned mechanisms coupled to the bobbin spindle,or at a constant peripheral, or tangential, velocity, by means of theother mechanism which comprises a friction drive roller capable of beingapplied against the periphery of the bobbin.

According to the preferred embodiment of this invention, the bobbindrive roller rotates in a support which can pivot about a rotatableshaft to which the roller is coupled through the intermediary of'a belt,the pivoting of said support in one direction or the other about saidshaft permitting the roller either to be applied against the peripheryof the bobbin or to be moved away therefrom. In addition, the threadguide may advantageously be mounted in another support which, at oneend, can pivot about the axis of the guide cam and, at the other end,bears against the periphery of the bobbin through the intermediary of abearing roller.

Said bearing roller and drive roller being preferably applied againstthe periphery of the bobbin along respective diametrically opposedgeneratrices of the cylinder defining said bobbin, the bobbin spindle ismounted in a cradle which is advantageously regulatable on the machinehousing in such a way that the orientation of this spindle can bemodified in a plane substantially parallel to a plane tangent to the twocircular arcs described by the axes of rotation of the rollers duringthe 3,350,021 Patented Oct. 31, 1967 pivoting of their respectivesupports as the spool fills up, which modification permits the windingof a conical body of thread on a conical support.

In order to permit these conical bobbins to be wound under conditionsassuring that both the thread guide support roller and the bobbin driveroller (which rollers could, if desired, be replaced by conical rollers)make as linear a contact as possible with the bobbin periphery, it isdesirable to mount the drive roller on its pivotable support through theintermediary of a second cradle which is adjustably mounted on saidsupport, in such a way that the orientation of the axis of rotation ofthis roller can be modified, with respect to the bobbin rotation axis ina plane tangent to the circular are described by the roller axis whenits support pivots.

These and other characteristics, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more readily apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken together with the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view, which is partially exploded and partially incross-section, of a thread spooling machine using devices according tothe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the plane IIII of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 show two different points in the operating cycle of a unitforming a part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a partial side view showing a unit of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side View of the drive mechanism of one of the units of FIG.1, looking through the machine housing wall upon which the mechanism ismounted;

. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane VIIIVIII ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative form of bobbindriving mechanism; and

FIG. 10 is a side view of the mechanism of FIG. 9, looking through themachine housing wall on which it is mounted.

It should be understood that the right side of FIG. 1 shows a completeassembly while the left hand side reproduces, in exploded form, severalof the elements thereof.

Referring first generally to the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, it should beappreciated that for each thread to be spooled coming from a supplyspool, a spindle, a bobbin, a skein, a coil of thread, asleeve, or anyanalogous source, none of which are shown, the spooling apparatuscomprises, as is well known per se, a thread guide 2 driven by arotating element, such as cam 3, in such a way as to undergo analternating movement along the length of the thread-receiving bobbin 4on which the thread is wound in the form of superposed helices the turnsof which overlap one another. The support spindle, or shaft, 5 of cam .3and the support spindle, or shaft, 6 of bobbin 4 are rotatably coupledin such a way that the rotation of one assures the rotation of theother.

In accordance with one important feature of the present invention thereare provided, for the driving of bobbin 4, two distinct mechanisms, bothdriven by transmission shaft 7, one of which mechanisms, when it iscoupled to spindle 6, causes the bobbin 4 to rotate at a constantangular velocity (the peripheral velocity thus increasing as theaddition of thread causes the bobbin diameter to increase), while theother mechanism, which comprises a friction drive roller 8, causes thebobbin to rotate at a constant peripheral velocity when roller 8 bearsagainst the bobbin periphery (the bobbin angular velocity thusdecreasing as it fills up with thread).

Such an arrangement thus gives one the possibility of carrying out thespooling operation with the bobbin 4 having a constant angular velocity,in which case the rate at which thread is added to the bobbin increasesin proportion to the increase in bobbin diameter, or to cause the threadto be delivered to the bobbin at a constant rate when the bobbin turnsat a constant peripheral velocity.

Such an arrangement is desirable since the constantly advancingdevelopment of synthetic fibers, whose structures are continually madeto differ more and more radically from the structure of natural fibers,the quality standards set for these new fibers and the different threadsupply arrangements (twisting bobbins, spindles, coils, skeins, etc.)render it imperative that the thread be supplied at a constant rate,i.e., at a constant linear speed, in the production of bobbins havingcrossed threads, which bobbins must be wound precisely when, forexample, intended for use in commercial knitting machines.

In the embodiment shown, the roller 8 is mounted on a support 9, thesupport having the general form of a housing which is free to pivotabout shaft 7 towards shaft 4 under the effect of a spring or acounterweight (neither of which is shown). To shaft 7 are attachedpaired pulleys 10. One of these pulleys drives roller 8 by means of abelt 11. The other of these pulleys drives, through the intermediary ofbelt 12, one of the paired pulleys 13 fixed on the shaft of one of twodrums 14 of a thread delivery capstan, the other one of the pairedpulleys 13 driving the other drum 14 (not visible) of the capstan bymeans of a belt 15. The drums 14 of the driving capstan, which thethread 1 passes around and which are arranged between the supply bobbin(not shown) and the receiving bobbin 4, assure the advance of the threadprior to its arrival at thread guide 2.

When it is desired to cause spindles and 6 to both rotate at a constantangular speed, thread 1 is freed from drums 14, the belts 11 and 12 areremoved, and roller 8 is moved away from bobbin 4 by causing housing 9to pivot in a counterclockwise direction about shaft 7 and by thenbolting or otherwise blocking housing 9 by any appropriate means (notshown) in this retracted position.

In order to cause the shaft 7 to drive spindle 5 and, through theintermediary of spindle 5, also drive the spindle 6, pinions 16 and 17(FIG. 7) are fixed on shaft 7 and spindle 5, respectively, these twopinions being mounted in the same plane and at a predetermined distanceapart so as to be able to engage an intermediate pinion 18. This latterpinion is mounted for free rotation on an arm 19 which is in turnmounted to pivot about a pin 20 rigidly fastened to the machine housing21. With this arrangement, it is possible to move pinion 18 away frompinions 16 and 17 when it is desired to decouple the latter two pinionsso that bobbin 4 may be driven by roller 8, for which operation it isnecessary to remount belt 11 between the roller and pulley 10.

In the above description it was assumed that the bobbin 4 wascylindrical. However, it often happens that it would be desirable towind thread 1 onto a conical bobbin.

In order to permit such modified operation, roller 8 is mounted in acradle 22 capable of pivoting on housing 9 about an axis perpendicularto the axis of shaft 7, this pivoting taking place, for example, aboutthe longitudinal axis of fastening bolt 23 in such a way that theangular position of the axis of rotation of roller 8 can be changedwhile always maintaining it in a plane tangent to the circle C whichthis axis describes about the axis of shaft 7 when housing 9 pivotsaround the shaft. Thus, regardless of the value of the apical angle ofthe cone defining the surface of bobbin 4 against which roller 8 mustbear, cradle 22 may be so oriented that the axis of roller 8 will beparallel to the frusto-conical mass formed by the thread 1 wound on thebobbin with the result that roller 8 will bear evenly against the threadalong the entire length of the bobbin.

In place of cylindrical roller 8, one could employ a 4 conical rollerhaving the same apical angle as the cone defining bobbin 4.

In certain cases, particularly when it might be desired to wind threadsof various thicknesses, it is advantageous to be able to alter theangular speed ratio existing between spindles 5 and 6.

For this purpose the present invention includes a mechanism throughwhich spindles 5 and 6 are rotatively coupled, this mechanism beingshown in FIG. 7 to comprise a pinion 24 mounted for rotation with apulley 25 which is rotatively coupled to spindle 6 through a belt 26.The elements 24 and 25 are mounted so as to rotate freely about a pivot27 supported in lever 28. This lever can pivot and slide, with respectto machine housing 21, because it is supported by a bolt 30 attached tothe housing 21 and passing through an elongated slot 29 cut in one endof the lever. Thus pinion 24 can be displaced, while remaining in theplane of pinion 17, and can be positioned in such a way as to tightenbelt 26 and to engage pinion 17, bolt 30 then being tightened to fixpinion 24 in this position.

This arrangement thus permits the distances between axis 27 and the axesof spindles 5 and 6 to be varied at will so that a rotating group(comprising a pulley and a pinion) having any desired diameters mayreplace the elements 24 and 25 in order to create any desired couplingratio between spindles 5 and 6, i.e. the ratio between the frequency ofoscillation of the thread guide and the rotation frequency of the bobbin4.

In order to avoid any slippage between spindles 5 and 6, a toothed belt26 is used in combination with toothed pulleys mounted on axes 6 and 27.

Because of the use of a flexible belt 26 to drive spindle 6 it ispossible to employ another concept of the present invention according towhich the bearings of spindle 6 are mounted in a support, such as thecradle 31 of FIG. 2, whose position on a projection 21a of housing 21may be varied through a pivoting action about pivot 32, this pivotingtaking place about a perpendicular axis.

The base of cradle 31 has at least one arcuate slot formed therein andhaving its radius of curvature centered on pivot 32, each said slotserving for the passage of a respective locking bolt 33 which screwsinto projection 21a to lock cradle 31 in position after it has beenoriented in the position required to permit the axis of spindle 5 to beproperly positioned with respect to the bobbin 4 when it is desired toemploy a bobbin having a conical surface.

It is thus possible, under any given conditions, to regulate the angularposition of cradle 31 in such a way that a bearing roller 45, which maybe cylindrical or conic and whose axis can pivot about spindle 5 whileremaining parallel thereto, bears on the bobbin 4 along its entirelength, regardless of the apical angle of the bobbins conical surface.

This regulation also permits the oscillating movement of thread guide 2,which movement is parallel to spindle 5, to be parallel to thegeneratrix of the conical surface of bobbin 4, regardless of theinclination of this generatrix.

Returning now to FIG. 1, there is shown a particularly useful form ofconstruction wherein rollers 8 and 45 bear against respectivediametrically opposed points on the circumference of bobbin 4, and theplane in which the axis of spindle 6 pivots about pivot 32 is parallelto the plane P-P which is tangent to both of the circular arcs C and Cdescribing, respectively, the pivoting of the axis of roller 8 aboutshaft 7 and the pivoting of the axis of roller 45 about spindle 5, thesepivoting actions being elfectuated by the pivoting of supports 9 and 44,respectively, in proportion to the filling up of bobbin 4.

It is thus possible to permit the thread to be wound on the bobbin inany conical manner while assuring that both rollers 8 and 45 maintain aperfectly linear contact with the conical body of wound thread.

. Referring now to the means for moving the thread guide in theembodiment shown herein, these means comprise a rotating cam 3 mountedon spindle 5 (see particularly FIG. 2) and presenting a groove 34 inwhich slides a shoe 35 suspended from a slider 36 which slides parallelto the axis of spindle 5 along a slide formed by two shanks 37 arrangedparallel to spindle 5.

Pivotally mounted on a pivot 38 of slider 36 is a bell-crank lever 39having its longitudinal axis generally perpendicular to shanks 37. Lever39 carries, at one end, the thread guide 2 and, at the other end, a shoe41 carried by a pivot 40 whose axis is parallel to the axis of pivot 38.The shoe 41 slides in a slideway 42, of the type generally referred toas a sine bar or pineapple bar, which can be angularly adjusted, in aplane parallel to the plane containing shanks 37, by means of a pivotingmovement about a pivot 43 whose axis is parallel to those of pivots 38and 40.

It may be appreciated that when cam 3 turns with spindle 5, shoe 35drives slider 36 along shanks 37 in a back and forth movement which, aslong as bar 42 is maintained parallel to shank 37, transmits anidentical motion to thread guide 2 (as shown in FIG. 3), the pathfollowed by thread guide 2 having precisely the same length as thatfollowed by shoe 35.

If, on the other hand, the angular position of bar 42 with respect toshanks 37 were to be changed by causing the bar to pivot around pivot43, in a counterclockwise direction for example (as shown in FIG. 4),lever 39 would pivot progressively during its travel in such a way as togive guide 2 a path of travel which is shorter than that of pivot 38. Inother words, lever 39 pivots in a direction so that its end whichcarries guide 2 points toward the center of the bobbin and so that itsangle of inclination increases in proportion to the distance separatingshoe 41 from pivot 4-3 as slider 36 travels along shanks 37, so that thelength of the path travelled by guide 2 decreases in proportion to thedegree of rotation given bar 42.

This arrangement permits the winding of a bobbin so that its thread bodyhas conical ends or ends having a curved cross-section by merely causingbar 42 to pivot gradually and continually in a counterclockwisedirection at a constant or variable rate, depending on the contourdesired.

According to the concept of the present invention, rotating cam 3,shanks 37 and bar 42 are all mounted in a support having the form of ahousing 44 (FIGS. 1 and 2) capable of freely pivoting about spindle 5and of bearing, through the intermediary of freely rotatable roller 45,against the periphery of bobbin 4, with the result that housing 44pivots about spindle 5 by an amount which is proportional to theincrease in the diameter of the body of wound thread. This pivotingofhousing 44 is utilized to control the orientation of bar 42. Morespecifically, the gradual rotation of housing 44 is utilized to causebar 42 to be gradually and continually pivoted by means, for example, ofa cam 46 taking the form of a slideway rigidly mounted on machinehousing 21.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5, the cam 46 controls the positionof bar 42 by guiding a finger 47 forming an extension of the bar. Theconfiguration of the cam slot is such as to give the ends of the threadbody a concave generatrix. If cam 46 were straight, the resulting endswould be conic and if the slot were in the form of a circular arccentered on the axis of spindle 5, the ends would be perpendicular tothe axis of rotation of spindle 6.

In order to permit the form which the wound thread body is to take to berapidly and easily selected, the cam 46 is advantageously mounted on asupport plate 48 (FIGS. 5 and 6) by means of a locking bolt 49 whichfunctions as a pivot to permit the orientation of the cam.

In the embodiment shown, five different predetermined inclinations maybe given to the cam through the cooperation of a pin 51 on cam 46 with arespective one of five reference indentations 50 arranged in plate 48,the

6 engagement of pin 51 in each indentation permitting the ends of thethread body to have. a different slope.

In addition, cam 46 is rendered detachable from plate 48 in order topermit the use of other cam configurations.

Instead of attaching plate 48 directly to machine housing 21, it ispreferable to mount it on a support plate 52 which is made to oscillatewith respect to housing 21 about an axis 53 at a frequency which is bothlow and aperiodic with respect to the frequency of rotation of bobbin 4.

This oscillatory movement is produced by an eccentric cam 54 (FIG. 1)which may be driven by the motor which drives bobbin 4 or by a separatemotor 55. The rotation of cam 54 is translated, by a roller follower,into an oscillatory longitudinal movement of rod 56 which generates apivotal motion in plate 52.

Plate 48 is advantageously mounted on support plate 52 through theintermediary of a pivot 57 and is fixed at an adjustable angularposition with respect to plate 52 by means of a locking screw 57a.

The oscillatory movement of cam 46 with respect to axis 53 produces acertain variation in the length of the path traversed by guide 2. Thisvariation serves to prevent the formation of hard projections along theedge of the thread body and to prevent the appearance of uneven zones onthe bobbin where overlappings of the thread turns are concentrated,which zones would hamper the ability of the bobbin to empty rapidly asis required for industrial knitting machines.

This oscillatory movement permits the utilization, be-, tween threadguide 2 and cam 46, of a single coupling mechanism to assure, on the onehand, that the ends of the wouund thread body have the desired form and,on the other hand, that the thread be regularly distributed around thebobbin.

The winding machine may comprise a large number of bobbins capable ofbeing wound simultaneously, it being envisioned for example thattwenty-four bobbins could be mounted, with twelve being mounted on eachside of the machine housing wall 21. This wall is traversedlongitudinally by a horizontal motor shaft 58 (FIG. 8) driven by a motor(not shown).

Between shaft 58 and each of the transmission shafts 7 (one shaft foreach bobbin) there is disposed a clutch unit comprising a disc 59mounted on shaft 58 and a plate 68 mounted on shaft 7 so as to rotatetherewith but so as to be slidable axially thereon. A spring 61constantly urges the plate 60 against the periphery of disc 59 with theresult that the plate is continually driven in rotation by its frictioncontact with the disc as long as no counter pressure is exerted byclutch disengaging abutment 62. This abutment is moved by means of acontrol arrangement comprising a bent lever 63 pivoting about a pivot 64mounted on a projection of housing wall 21.

According to a feature of this invention, the free end of lever 63 isacted on, on the one hand, by spring 65 which, by itself exerts a largeenough force to counteract the effect of spring 61 and to assure thepermanent disengagement of plate 60 from disc 59, and, on the otherhand, by a control unit, such as lever 66, mounted so as to remove fromabutment 62 the disengaging effect of spring 65, thereby assuring theengagement of the two members. Lever 66 is held in place in aclutch-engaging position by a bolting mechanism upon which act thevarious monitoring units associated with the spooling operation, such asa bobbin thickness gauge, thread tension monitors, etc., these unitsacting to halt the spooling operation when required by cancelling theeffectiveness of the bolting mechanism, thereby permitting spring 65 toact on lever 66 in such a way as to cause plate 60 to become disengagedfrom disc 59.

' As is shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the preferred embodiment of the controlunit comprises the lever 66 pivoted at 67 on a projection of housingwall 21. One end of the lever is joined, by means of a connecting rod68, to the free end of lever 63. Towards its other end, the lever 66passes through a hole arranged in a slider 69 (see particularly FIG. 1)which is mounted against wall 21 in such a Way as to be able to slidevertically with respect thereto when lever 66 is lowered by, forexample, a downward pressure on knob 66a.

Slider 69 carries a finger 70 which can become latched behind a ramp 71carried by a catch 72. The catch is adapted to pivot about an axis 73mounted on housing wall 21 and is normally urged in a counterclockwisedirection by a spring or counterweight (not shown).

The various monitoring units mentioned above are, in the preferredembodiment, made to act on this catch 72. These units produce, on thecatch, a torque which tends to cause it to pivot in a clockwisedirection around its axis 73. This has the effect of retracting the ramp71 away from finger 70 and of permitting slider 69 and the portion oflever 66 which carries knob 66a to rise, thereby moving rod 68 downwardso as to permit spring 65 to come into action and to cause shaft 7 tobecome disengaged from motor shaft 58.

Catch 72 may advantageously be made responsive to a bobbin thicknessmonitor so as to automatically halt the winding operation when thebobbin attains the desired diameter.

According to one useful form of construction, housing 44 is used as thethickness gauge, its angular position about spindle 5 being a functionof the bobbin diameter as long as roller 45 contacts the bobbin.

To this end, there is mounted, on a wing 74 rigidly connected to housing44, and lying in a plane perpendicular to the axis of spindle 5, a stop75 (FIG. 1) positioned behind this wing and projecting towards machinehousing wall 21 so as to intersect the plane in which catch 72 pivots.

The position of this stop 75 on wing 74 is desirably adjustable, such acapability being provided, for example, by the rotation of a screw 76 toplace the stop 75 at any desired position relative to a scale 77 whichcould be graduated in millimeters to indicate the thickness of thethread layer to be wound on bobbin 4.

In operation, stop 75 is set opposite the scale graduation correspondingto the desired thread layer thickness and the winding operation isstarted. Housing 44 commences to pivot in a clockwise direction as thethread layer grows. This continues until stop 75 contacts catch 72 andcauses it to pivot clockwise and to thereby trigger the disengagement ofthe clutch means and the stopping of bobbin 4, the moment of cont-act ofstop 75 corresponding to the attainment of the desired thread layerthickness on bobbin 4.

It is also desirable to provide a gauge in the form of an antenna 78which will sense the rupture of thread 1. This antenna is mounted so asto pivot freely about a pivot 79 to which its lower end is connected andwhich is mounted on wall 21. The upper extremity of the antenna bearsagainst the thread 1 at a point between drums 14 and return-roller 80,the bearing point preferably being immediately below said roller. Theforce with which antenna 78 bears against thread 1 may be veryaccurately regulated by the adjustable counterweight 81.

If thread 1 were to break, the antenna 78 would lose its support pointand, under the influence of gravity and then under the added influenceof counterweight 81, would pivot in a clockwise direction around itspivot 79 until encountering wheel 82 provided at the upper end of catch72. This would cause the catch to pivot and release slider 69, therebytriggering the disengagement of 7 from shaft 58.

When thread to be spooled is delivered from skeins or sleeves, it isparticularly difficult to obtain good quality, precision wound bobbinswhose turns overlap one another. In effect, if the skein or sleeve ispoorly placed on its rotating support, called a drumhead, or if, as aresult of careless maintenance, the rotating support becomes entangled,the thread will not flow smoothly and will therefore have .a greatertendency to break. It will be readily appreciated that each rupturereduces the quality of the finished bobbin and disturbs the continuousadvance of the winding operation, and, hence increases the cost of theoperation.

Assuming that rotating support 83 (FIG. 8) turns freely about ahorizontal axis 84 mounted above the winding apparatus and fixed to themachine housing wall 21, there is mounted, preferably on the same axis84, a compensating beam 85 one end of which carries a thread returnroller 86 around which the thread 1a turns after having ascended priorto descending in order to pass around drums 14. The other end of beam 85is connected, through the intermediary of rod 87, to a perpendicularprojection 88 of catch 72 (FIG. 1).

If, with this structure, thread 1a becomes tangled in its support 83,the tension to which the thread is subjected will increase, causingroller 86 to be drawn downward, with the result that rod 87 movesupward. This movement has the result to causing catch 72 to pivot in aclockwise direction so as to trigger the disengagement of shaft 7 fromshaft 58. With the winding operation thus stopped, the thread on support83 can be disentangled by hand, so that all danger of breakage iseliminated. After each such stoppage, and after the trouble has beencorrected, the winding operation may be restarted simply by depressingknob 66a.

In certain cases, wherein the driving of bobbin 4 at a constantperipheral speed can not be satisfactorily produced by roller 8 alonethis action may be aided by axially driving the bobbin, this axialdriving being accompanied by a certain amount of slippage which servesto preserve the constant peripheral speed of the bobbin.

This driving with slippage may be obtained, in accordance with thepresent invention, by introducing a friction torque limiter into thebobbin axial driving mechanism. This torque limiter could, for example,replace the pinion 18 of the arrangement shown in FIG. 7. One form ofsuch limiter is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 to comprise a pair of pinions18a and 18b rotatable independently of one another on the same pivot 89.A washer 90 is mounted so as to rotate with pinion 18a and to slideaxially on surfaces parallel to pivot 89. This washer is urged bysprings 29 against the bottom of pinion 18b. With pinion 18a positivelyengaging driving pinion 16, which is mounted for rotation with shaft 7,and pinion 18b positively engaging pinion 17 of spindle 5, the frictionexisting between pinions 18a and 18b is determined in such a way thatthe velocity difference existing between that created by the axialbobbin drive and the peripheral bobbin drive is absorbed by slippagebetween these two pinions, i.e. in such a way that the linear velocityof the thread delivered to the bobbin is maintained constant.

When it is desired to drive bobbin 4 only through its spindle 6, whilecompletely removing the peripheral drive action of roller 8, it is onlynecessary to replace pinions 18a and 18b by a single pinion 18. It ispreferable that these pinions 18a and 18b be removable as a unit withthe pinions, their shaft 89, their mounting arm 19 and their shaft 20,by which they are attached to housing wall 21, all being held in placeby an easily removable nut 93.

Also, instead of making pinions 18a and 18b removable, they may bepermanently mounted and provided with any well-known blocking meanswhich cause the two pinions to rotate in unison.

While one particular embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described herein, it should be appreciated that many variations andmodifications would occur to one skilled in the art without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, whose coverage should therefore beimited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for winding textile threads onto a bobbin, which machinecomprises a thread guide, a rotating element driving said thread guidein an alternating movement in the direction of the longitudinal axis ofa bobbin, a first spindle upon which said rotating element, is mounted,a second spindle for receiving a bobbin, said spindles being coupled insuch a way that the rotation of one of said spindles assures therotation of the other, and driving means for actuating said bobbin, theimprovement which consists in that said driving means comprise a firstmechanism for driving said bobbin at a constant angular velocity, asecond mechanism for driving the body formed by said bobbin and thethread wound thereon at a constant peripheral velocity, said secondmechanism including a friction drive roller, and coupling means foralternately connecting said first mechanism to one of said spindles orapplying said roller against the periphery of said body.

2. A device as recited in claim 1, further comprising: a support inwhich said thread guide is mounted, said support being mounted, at oneend thereof, so as to be pivotable about the axis of said first spindle,and a bearing roller mounted in the other end of said support so as toturn freely and so as to bear against the periphery of the said body.

3. A device as recited in claim 1, further comprising: a powertransmission shaft, a support in which said roller is rotatively heldand which is mounted so as to pivot about said power transmission shaft,and a drive belt rotatively coupling said power transmission shaft tosaid roller, whereby the pivoting of said support in one directionpermits said roller to be applied against said body and its pivoting inthe other direction causes said roller to be moved away from said body.

4. A device as recited in claim 3, further comprising a second supportin which said thread guide is mounted, said second support beingmounted, at one end thereof,

so as to be pivotable about the axis of said first spindle; and abearing roller mounted in the other end of said second support so as toturn freely and so as to bear against the periphery of said body.

5. A device as recited in claim 4 wherein said drive roller and saidbearing roller are positioned so that, when they contact said body, eachroller bears against a respective diametrically opposed generatrix ofthe surface of revolution defining said body.

6. A device as recited in claim 5 further comprising a first cradle inwhich said second spindle is rotatively mounted, said cradle beingmovable in such a way that the orientation of the axis of said secondspindle can be modified while remaining in a plane substantiallyparallel to the common tangent plane of the two circular arcs describedby the movement of the axis of rotation of said two rollers as theirrespective supports pivot, which modification of said second spindlepermits the winding of a frusto-conical body of thread on afrusto-conical support.

.7. A device as recited in claim 6, further comprising a second cradlein which said drive roller is rotatably mounted, said second cradlebeing movable in such a way as to modify the orientation of the axis ofrotation of said drive roller while maintaining said last named axis ina plane tangent to the circular are described by this axis when itssupport pivots about said power transmission shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,729,051 1/ 1956 Clarkson 2A226X 2,778,57'8 1/1957 Keith -242-18 2,996,263 8/1961 Paulsen 242-18 XSTANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A MACHINE FOR WINDING TEXTILE THREADS ONTO A BOBBIN, WHICH MACHINECOMPRISES A THREAD GUIDE, A ROTATING ELEMENT DRIVING SAID THREAD GUIDEIN AN ALTERNATING MOVEMENT IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OFA BOBBIN, A FIRST SPINDLE UPON WHICH SAID ROTATING ELEMENT IS MOUNTED, ASECOND SPINDLE FOR RECEIVING A BOBBIN, SAID SPINDLES BEING COUPLED INSUCH A WAY THAT THE ROTATION OF ONE OF SAID SPINDLES ASSURES THEROTATION OF THE OTHER, AND DRIVING MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID BOBBIN, THEIMPROVEMENT WHICH CONSISTS IN THAT SAID DRIVING MEANS COMPRISE A FIRSTMECHANISM FOR DRIVING SAID BOBBIN, AT A CONSTANT ANGULAR VELOCITY, ASECOND MECHANISM FOR DRIVING THE BODY FORMED BY SAID BOBBIN AND THETHREAD WOUND THEREON AT A CONSTANT PERIPHERAL VELOCITY, SAID SECONDMECHANMISM INCLUDING A FRICTION DRIVE ROLLER, AND COUPLING MEANS FORALTERNATELY CONNECTING SAID FIRST MECHANISM TO ONE OF SAID SPINDLES ORAPPLYING SAID ROLLER AGAINST THE PERIPHERY OF SAID BODY.